Blog
Keely & Robert
25th March 2023, Woodend Barn Banchory
Remember covid? Remember lockdown? In some ways that feels like a lifetime ago, but then on the other hand it’s an experience that will remain with us - for both good and bad reasons. Many couples had their wedding plans ruined by it. Some of them decided to reschedule to a future date, a lot of them ended up rescheduling again and again as the restrictions changed and stopped/started. But some couples just went for it anyway, a low key intimate wedding with a few lucky guests. That’s what Keely and Rob did. They got married in a family member’s garden, in secret. How cool!
The newly married couple soon had more happy news with the arrival of their son Clay during lockdown.
Fast forward to March 2023, they invited me along to capture their wedding celebration at the Woodend Barn in Banchory.
In the morning the bride and groom parties got ready at separate villas at Inchmarlo golf course. There was a super relaxed vibe all round - of course it helps that you’ve already done the ‘getting married’ bit - so the pressure was off. And it was fantastic to meet a previous couple of mine, Lindsay and Ian. Robert was tasked with getting Clay dressed in his wedding outfit, whilst the groomsmen kept him entertained with a bubble machine (and to distract him from the staircase).
Both Keely and Robert arrived at the venue about an hour or so prior to the ceremony time, making sure things were all sorted, and awaiting the arrival of their guests. But the bus was running a wee bit behind schedule. So photographer Debbie Walker and myself decided to take the bride & groom back to Inchmarlo for a quick pre-ceremony couple shoot - we all managed squeezed into my Fiat Panda, and made it back in time before the guests started to arrive.
During the ceremony celebrant Sheila Lawtie performed a baby-naming ritual, something I’ve never seen before, to officially introduce Clay to the world.
Afterwards the guests mingled with the happy couple, and there was an ice cream vendor which went down really well.
Since this was no ordinary wedding, there was food trucks instead of the traditional three-course meal. Guests could choose between freshly-made pizza, or anything from the fish & chip van. Personally I went for a steak pie and chips - delicious! And there was a pudding table with all sorts of delightful treats - cookies, cake, bakes and more!
Local wedding legends Big Show got the evening started with their unique version of a grand march, which always gets the dance floor filled from the get go. They ended this with some confetti canons - which always make me jump! A couple of ceilidh songs followed so I chose to film these at double-framerate, allowing me to turn this footage into real slow motion in the edit.
“Thank you so so much for getting the wedding video to us so quickly. It’s absolutely amazing! We literally laughed from start to finish of the highlight video and the footage in particular of Clay is just THE BEST! We absolutely love all of the videos and loved having you there as part of our day! You are so talented at what you do and we can’t wait to start showing the videos to all our friends and family!
Thank you so much again and I hope our paths cross again soon.
Keely and Rob x “
Best Months To Get Married in Aberdeen
Which are the best months to get married in Aberdeen, Scotland?
Following on from the previous post, the Top Weddings Venues in Aberdeen, this time lets look at which months prove to be the most popular amongst my 2022 wedding clients:
June
July
August
September
May
No surprises that the Summer months come out on top, with the late Spring months just a little bit behind. These are the days that we get the most daylight and better temperatures.
Checking out some weather websites reveals that April and May are the driest months, with May having the most daylight. If you’re looking for the best temperatures, it’s a tie between July and August.
But regardless of which month you choose to tie the knot there’s just no avoiding that chance of rain. We get an average 138 days of rain in Aberdeen every year. October and November have the most rainy days with 14. The driest months of the year, April, May and Jun, are not far behind with 10 rainy days each. Of the course the amount of rain varies, with Spring having the lowest and Autumn the highest. So you might want to be prepared, just incase.
Looking for a wedding venue? Check out my blog post on the top Aberdeen wedding venues.
Top Wedding Venues In Aberdeen
A look at the top wedding venues in Aberdeen, according to my 2022 wedding couples
It’s the time of year when couples start planing their wedding, and of course, it all starts with the choice of wedding venue.
I’ve looked back through the weddings I filmed in 2022 to see which Aberdeen venues were most popular amongst my clients:
The venues listed above fall into distinct two categories, Hotel and Exclusive-Use.
Hotel wedding venues offer the advantage of accommodation for guests and in-house catering. Whereas exclusive-use venues give you a blank canvas on which to plan your event, albeit at a premium price.
One thing that all these venues share is the location. Stunning views provide great backdrops for the photoshoot, and having space to roam around is great for your guests - especially in nice weather.
It does seem that church weddings are definitely out, as has been the case for a good few years now. Of course there are various reasons for this, but I think a lack of control and the convenience of doing it all at one venue is amongst the top.
Although I always say that the most important thing on a wedding day is the the couple, and that is certainly true, there’s no denying that fine weather does improve the day for everyone else. So why not check out the Best Wedding Months, according to my wedding clients.